Despite many people storing this creamy, dairy delight in the fridge door or on the top shelf, it’s insufficient to keep mould at bay.
Even with cling film, tin foil, or even a sealed container, the green spores can still plague cheese stored this way.
This is why Briony May-Williams, former Great British Bake Off star-turned-TV presenter, has shared her best storage solutions.
During a recent appearance on BBC Morning Live, she disclosed her top three tricks to keep hard cheeses like Cheddar, and soft, creamy feta fresh.
She clarified that unlike most storage hacks, which involve cling film or sandwich bags, her methods employ less obvious ingredients; sugar cubes, white vinegar and brine.
How to store Cheddar cheese
According to Briony, prolonging the shelf life of cheeses such as Cheddar, Edam and Gouda, is as easy as using white vinegar.
She proposed that the vinegar be used to dampen a piece of kitchen roll, then sealed in a zip lock bag with the cheese.
White vinegar is a mild acid capable of killing around 82 percent of mould species, as Medicine Net explains its frequent use in household cleaning. It’s cheap to buy too, costing just 35p at Tesco.
Briony assures that using it to preserve dairy “won’t affect the taste” and will “prolong the life of the cheese for up to an extra six weeks”.
Another expert-endorsed method employed by Briony is to seal cheese in a container with sugar cubes.
The BBC Morning Live presenter said: “Once you’ve opened a pack of cheese, transfer it to a food storage container. Pop two sugar cubes inside the container and make sure it is tightly sealed.”
She added that this method will stop the smell of cheese from permeating the fridge, while also absorbing excess moisture which prevents the cheese from sweating.
This technique will keep the cheese fresher for longer. However, if the sugar cubes dissolve over time, simply clean the container and replace them with another pair for continued freshness.
How to store soft cheese
For those who love feta, there’s an alternative storage method to keep this soft, creamy cheese as fresh as possible – by submerging it in brine.
Briony suggested that a sterilised jam jar is the ideal container for feta, rather than its original packaging. She recommended keeping the cheese block whole or cutting it into chunks before transferring it into the jar.
Then, mix two teaspoons of salt with enough cold water in a bowl. Once the salt has fully dissolved, pour it into the jar of feta until the cheese is completely covered.
This method should keep the cheese at its peak for “up to an extra three weeks”, instead of just a few days.
